The Madera Babe Ruth 13-year-old All-Star team fell into an early hole and couldn’t climb out of it during a 9-6 loss Monday at the Central California State Babe Ruth tournament in Santa Maria.

The Hanford All-Stars scored five runs in the first and four runs in the second for an early 9-0 lead before Madera added six runs in the third and fourth innings in the loser’s bracket championship game.

Madera was sent home while Hanford played host Santa Maria on Tuesday for the championship.

In the first inning, Hanford sent 10 batters to the plate against starter Tommy Molina. He allowed three hits in the inning and walked two batters. Two of the runs were unearned...